SIT probe sought into death

Ilavarasan’s father suspects that his son was murdered

The father of the Dharmapuri youth E. Ilavarasan, whose body was found near a railway track at Dharmapuri on July 4, has sought a probe by a Madras High Court-constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the death.

He suspected that his son was murdered.

In a writ petition filed in the High Court, T. Elango of Natham Colony, Dharmapuri district, said he belonged to the Scheduled Caste and was working as a records clerk in the Dharmapuri District Government Hospital.

His son Ilavarasan, who had been pursuing a computer science course, and Divya of Sellankottai (a caste Hindu), were in love with each other for the past three years. They got married at Tirupati in October last year.

Following this, the girl’s father, Nagarajan, died under mysterious circumstances. This led to a mob fury on November 7.

On July 4, the Ilavarasan’s body was found near the railway track at Dharmapuri. The petitioner said that in his complaint to police he had raised strong doubts that his son had been killed and sought proper investigation. On July 7, a senior police official told presspersons that the death was one of suicide.

Mr. Elango said his son had no suicidal tendency. People living near the railway track had said that some three youths indulged in a quarrel with another youth. After sometime, they heard an alarm. When people came to see what had happened, two persons ran away and a body was found near the track. Had Ilavarasan been hit by a train, his body would have been thrown several feet away. The head injury would have been caused only if some one had attacked him with an iron rod.

Hence, a fair investigation into the death was necessary. The petitioner prayed the court for a direction to transfer the case from the railway police to a court-constituted SIT which should include a team of forensic experts.